For those that say the bike is designed for Casey your wrong. His style just suits the Ducati. If you saw Laguna 2008 when Rossi was leading Casey, Casey would be on full throttle before Rossi the reason being the traction control would sort it out for him. The reason people find it hard to ride the Ducati is because to get the most out of it you need to wind on the throttle coming out of the corner at full lean. That was Melandri's biggest problem about riding the Duke, he wasnt able to get on the power early enough.

The thing is this: Stoner gels with the Ducati better than anyone else since Loris Capirossi. The traction control usage argument is a furphy to try and explain why one rider can win on the Ducati when no-one else can.

I'll step out of the conversation now, as I've watched these threads end in mud slinging matches in many a motorcycle forum and I'd rather like to avoid it here.

Fact is, like him or not Stoner is the only rider who can get the results on the Ducati, everyone else is made to look sub-par on it. The only other rider who could have won a world for Ducati in GP's has been Loris Capirossi and he refused to return to Ducati just recently

No, I didn't forget Troy Bayliss, but one can't point to a one off ride win (spectacular as it was) as a steadfast example of an easy bike to ride.

What it does prove though, is how important is for rider to gel with machine. What is noteworthy is Bayliss brought over his entire superbike crew for that 2006 race.

With the right people in place, Bayliss got the bike set-up exactly how he liked, was fast from the first practice and won on Sunday. Winning was something Troy rarely looked like doing before, although he was somewhat competitive on the MotoGP Ducati (much like Colin Edwards for Tech 3).

My point being: it is a combination of things that make a world champion. Rossi has, by no coincidence, the best bike, pit crew plus his sublime talent.

Currently, Lorenzo, Stoner and Pedrosa aren't far behind in all categories. Stoner nad his team were fantastic during 2007, and didn't look too shabby in '08 & '09. The TC/electronics debate is moot simply because every team/bike has it and uses it.

Dani Pedrosa says the only reason why he is staying at the Honda team for another year is because there were not openings at Yamaha.

The Spaniard and team-mate Andrea Dovizioso were confirmed at Repsol Honda for another year last weekend, but the Spanish rider made it clear HRC was not his preferred choice.
Pedrosa also said next year will be the last season he stays with his current team if his bike is not competitive enough.

"Simply because there was no room at Yamaha, that would have been good," Pedrosa told Italia1 television about his decision to stick with Honda.
"Besides, I've given Honda my faith for one more year to see if they can make the bike better.
"Otherwise, after one year without improvement, maybe it'll be over."
Yamaha has Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo under contract for next year, after the Spanish rider decided to extend his deal with the Japanese squad.

Eight-time champion Rossi, who has suggested he would like to ride for Ducati before retiring, said there are no doubts about his presence at Yamaha next year.
But the Italian admitted things were open after that.
"Certainly not next year, because for 2010 I already have a signed contract with Yamaha," he said.
"As for after 2010, obviously Yamaha will have to tell us what they want to do in the upcoming years, because we need to hear what their plans are for the future. We are ready for anything."

WOW this is big news

Pedrosa wanted to go to Yamaha and Rossi want's to go to Ducati
:woop:

2007 Ducati had the better bike with the new 800 rules, there no denying about it, and on top of that, Stoner did very well on the bike and deserved that championship. One thing though that you haven't picked up on, is that in 08 the fuel tank size was reduced from 23litres down to 21.5 litres, of which then stopped Ducati from creating their engine to run at such high rpm's and have such a speed advantage. I'm not saying that was the only reason Casey won the title in 07 as his bike put out the most power, but you cant say having 10 even 15kmh in a straightline more over your nearest competitor isn't gunna help things out.